Rumeli Fortress Museum

Rumeli Fortress rises on the European shore at the Bosphorus's narrowest point. Mehmed the Conqueror had it built in 1452 to command the ships passing through the strait before the siege of Constantinople, and it was finished in an astonishing five months, with hundreds of masons and labourers at work.

After the conquest the fortress lost its military purpose. From the 16th century it served as a state prison, was damaged by fire in 1746, repaired under Selim III and then left to decay, until a large restoration in 1953 marked the 500th anniversary of the conquest. It opened as a museum in 1968.

Three big towers anchor the walls: the Çandarlı Halil Pasha, Zağanos Pasha and Saruca Pasha towers, of roughly 22, 21 and 28 metres. The Saruca tower keeps a council chamber known for its acoustics and graffiti scratched by prisoners. On the Zağanos tower, a two-line inscription is said to be the first Turkish inscription on the Bosphorus.

The small collection includes cannonballs from the conquest, Ottoman cannons from the time of Bayezid II and later, carved Byzantine stones and a piece of the Golden Horn chain. Most visitors come to walk the ramparts and enjoy the strait.